What’s with all the empty seats at PAETECPark?
Rochester Rhinos midfielder John Ball gradually made his way
down the line of young fans clamoring for an autograph after the Rhinos’ August
26 game against Puerto Rico. Signing every
T-shirt, ball, and cleat presented to him, Ball came to one particularly small
youngster and lifted him up onto the metal gate that separated them. He
scrawled his John Hancock for the boy and smiled.
After nearly two seasons in Rochester, Ball has come
to appreciate the legion of fans who support one of
minor-league soccer’s most successful franchises. Even though the Rhinos’ new
stadium, PAETEC Park, hasn’t been filled to capacity in recent months, Ball
knows there’s enough fans in Rochester — especially the kids who line up for
the players’ autographs after games — to pack the stadium when it really
counts.
“As long as they’re there for the playoffs, when it really
matters,” he said after signing his last T-shirt. “In the playoffs I think
it’ll be pretty full. We know we have loyal fans out there.”
Ball also knows that
those fans are also demanding. So far this year the Rhinos have piled up a
whopping six draws at home this year, a fact that, Ball said, could be
affecting attendance. “The people of Rochester
are used to wins,” he said. “They’re not used to ties.”
Even though the
Rhinos have already clinched a berth in the United Soccer Leagues’ First
Division playoffs, and even though they’ve posted a relatively glowing 12-4-10 record, the team hasn’t played for a sellout crowd at PAETEC
since the 13,768-seat, $40 million stadium’s grand opening June 3. Most games
feature a bevy of empty seats, enough to make it glaringly noticeable. But is
that enough to question whether the roughly $35 million of taxpayer money that
went into the building — money that could have been spent other ways to help
an economically depressed city — has been worth it?
Absolutely not, says Steven Thompson, USL director of
professional league operations, who said league officials are
thrilled with the Rhinos’ attendance figures so far this year.
“We’re tremendously pleased Rochester is supporting the Rhinos the way
that they are,” he said. Besides, he said, where the team plays is secondary to
how the team plays.
“The fans are there to watch what’s on the pitch,” he said.
“They’re coming to see the product.”
Still, the criticism that PAETECPark
simply isn’t doing what its builders said it would do — attract old and new
soccer fans in droves — might be gaining traction thanks to the empty seats.
Rhinos supporters, on the other
hand, cite the cold, hard facts. Through the weekend of August 26-27, the
Rhinos averaged 10,185 spectators at their 2006 league games. In all of the USL
that figure trailed only Montreal’s average
attendance of 11,452 and far outpaced the third-highest drawing team, Portland, which averaged
5,431.
And Rochester’s
average attendance so far this year is topping last year’s average of 9,570 and
comes fairly close to matching the team’s all-time high of 11,628 in 2000.
Others aren’t sold on the numbers. Given the amount of empty
seats at each game, some have grumbled that this year’s attendance figures have
been artificially inflated by free ticket giveaways, absent season-ticket
holders, and other factors.
All such debate doesn’t
worry Rhinos co-owner Steve Donner. That’s because regardless of attendance,
the team is still reaching its revenue goals so far this year. He noted that
“more fans are paying more money for tickets,” and he added that advertising
revenue has doubled at the new stadium. Plus, he said, when he and fellow owner
Frank DuRoss pitched the stadium to state
legislators, they presented a plan based on an average attendance of 9,000
anyway.
But what about all those empty seats? Donner said most of
unfilled spots are located in the corners, and he noted that the stadium isn’t
even finished yet; the team is hoping to complete a second phase that will
bring a bunch of new amenities like enclosed luxury suites. Once that happens,
he said, “We’ll look at tweaking our marketing strategies.” All in all, he
said, “We’re not unhappy.”
Still, Donner acknowledges that the Rhinos could be drawing
more fans than they are. “We know we need to make improvements,” he said. “We
don’t shy away from that.”
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2006.
